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AT&T Sued over NSA Spy Program
Declan McCullagh

AT&T has been named a defendant in a class action lawsuit that claims the telecommunications company illegally cooperated with the National Security Agency's secret eavesdropping program.more »»»

Maquiladora Industry is Resilient, Expert Says
Diane Lindquist

Mexico's maquiladoras last year regained the number of operators that left the country in the early 2000s, surpassed the number of workers employed before the crisis and switched to activities with more value and stability, an industry expert reports.more »»»

Mexican Start-Ups Coming to Silicon Valley
siliconbeat.com

The Mexican secretary for small and medium enteprise, Alejandro Gonzalez Hernandez, gave a taped presentation to a group of entrepreneurs last night at the Computer History Museum (a virtual talk; he wasn't there physically), during which he disclosed that Mexico has seen its first technology start-up receive venture capital in the U.S.more »»»

Mexican Parties Split on Migration
Diane Lindquist

If a debate held in San Diego this week is any measure, migration to the United States is evolving as one of the most divisive issues in Mexico's presidential campaigns. Representatives of the three major candidates sparred over their parties' views at an event organized by the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce's Mexico Business Center.more »»»

A New Era in Mexican Aviation
FlightInternational.com

Mexican aviation has awakened from a deep sleep. Its two major airlines are being privatised and a swarm of start-ups aim to exploit Latin America’s largest emerging market. In no other country in the world has commercial aviation changed so much so fast.
more »»»

Mexico's December Unemployment Falls To 2.84 Percent
Reuters

Mexican unemployment stood at 2.84 percent in December compared with 2.99 percent in November, the government said on Friday. Analysts were expecting December unemployment of 2.76 percent, according to the median forecast in a Reuters poll of six financial houses.more »»»

MexicoVisitor.com Hosts First Annual Mexico Travel & Real Estate Expo
Ted Donovan

The first annual Mexico Travel & Real Estate Expo, hosted by MexicoVisitor.com, will take place at the Scottish Rite Center in Mission Valley (1895 Camino Del Rio South) on Sunday, February 12th, 2006 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Expo will feature exhibitors promoting real estate- and travel-industry products from throughout Mexico.more »»»

100% Agave Tequila Sales Skyrocket
Robert Forrester

Is an American company responsible for the record sales of Tequila? The Mexican Tequila Regulatory Council recently announced sales of 100% agave spirits, commonly referred to as Premium Tequila, grew by 34.61 percent, from 4 million gallons in 2005 to 5.5 million gallons in 2005.more »»»

Latin America Winning 7-0
Prensa Latina

The United States, the European Union and the international financial institutions are watching their economic order being bashed in Latin America, where popular sectors are having their demands heard for the first time.more »»»

Border Business is Booming
Angela Shah

A multitude of day trips across the Texas-Mexico border where shoppers spend around $20 for groceries and other sundry items adds up to a huge economic force that yokes both economies together. While border retailing comprises 2 percent of the state's total, it packs a much bigger punch for some Texas cities.more »»»

Citigroup, Bilbao to Lower Mexican Credit Card Fees
Bloomberg

Mexican banks, bowing to pressure from central bank Governor Guillermo Ortiz, agreed to lower fees on credit and debit cards at a cost of $100 million in annual revenue, bankers who helped draft the proposal said.more »»»

Mexican Factory Beats The Odds
Amy Guthrie

Behind terra cotta-colored walls designed by renowned Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta, wide hallways are lined with dozens of 20-foot-tall wooden crates carrying machinery from China — evidence of a small manufacturing victory in this corner of the world.more »»»

Look Out for Imbalances in 2006
Philippe Martin

2006 is forecast to be a good vintage for global economic growth. The emerging countries of Asia, but also those of Eastern Europe and even Latin America, should enjoy continuing strong growth. The United States' economy should slow down slightly, but the forecast of 3% for 2006 remains well above that for other industrialized countries.more »»»

Latin Shares Look Set To Gain Again
Ludwig Marek

The last time Latin American stocks rose for three straight years, the rally ended in 1994 with the Mexican peso crisis. This time around, Latin shares appear set to continue rising for a fourth straight year in 2006.more »»»

US States Take Lead in Push to Raise Minimum Wages
John M. Broder

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have acted on their own to set minimum wages that exceed the $5.15 an hour rate set by the federal government, and this year lawmakers in dozens of the remaining states will debate raising the minimum wage. Some states that already have a higher minimum wage than the federal rate.more »»»

A Market Comes To Life
Eliza Barclay

Once a market notorious for its vulnerability to abrupt peso devaluations and the ups and downs of politics, Mexico gained ground in 2005 — with Mexico's IPC stock index closing up nearly 38 percent for the year.more »»»

Venezuela Stocks Fell the Most in 2005 on Chavez's Policies
Bloomberg

Venezuela's IBC stock index fell the most among the world's primary equity benchmarks this year on concern President Hugo Chavez will divert profits from investors as he seeks to redistribute wealth to the country's poor.more »»»

CAFTA Nations May Pay for Missed Deadline
Juan Carlos

Six Latin American governments had hoped to start 2006 with a free trade zone that would open the U.S. market to their fledgling industries. Instead, they bogged down in making legal and regulatory reforms, delaying the trade union that was supposed to take effect Sunday.more »»»

Minimum Wage to Rise in Mexico
Louie Gilot

Mexico's National Minimum Wage Commission said last week that Mexico will raise the minimum wage by 4 percent on Jan. 1, higher than record-low annual inflation of 2.91 percent in November. Many companies use the minimum wage percentage increase as a benchmark to negotiate pay contracts even if workers earn several times the official minimum wage. more »»»

Banks Eye Remittance Industry
Laura Wides-Munoz

U.S. banks have raced to join the remittance industry in recent years, seeking a share of the billions of dollars immigrants send to their native countries, especially around the holiday season.more »»»

Venezuela versus Mexico
Marianna Parraga

Mexico and Venezuela have managed to sneak in as hemispheric energy development poles. The major hydrocarbons producers in Latin America and with an evolved oil business - focused in Pemex and Pdvsa - these two nations try to find a niche in a new marketplace.more »»»

Minimum Wage to Raise by Four Percent
Wire services

Mexico will raise the minimum wage by 4 percent in 2006, higher than record-low annual inflation of 2.91 percent in November. The minimum wages in Mexico´s three zones will be raised on Jan. 1, the National Minimum Wage Commission said in a faxed statement. In 2005, the average increase of the minimum wage was 4.5 percent.more »»»

Mexican Discount Airline Orders 16 Airbus Planes
Reuters

European aircraft maker Airbus said on Friday that Mexico's newly launched low-cost carrier Vuela ordered 16 planes to begin flying next year. Vuela, partly owned by billionaire Carlos Slim and other low-cost airlines including Brazil's Gol, are gearing up to take advantage of an expected lift in competition in Mexico's airline industry as the government privatizes the country's two largest carriers.more »»»

U.S. Treasury Secretary Lauds Mexico for Strong Macroeconomic Policies
Lisa J. Adams

U.S. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow lauded Mexico on Thursday for instituting strong macroeconomic policies, saying that under the leadership of President Vicente Fox and Mexican Treasury Secretary Francisco Gil, "the finances of Mexico have improved dramatically."more »»»

Regional Leaders Approve Mexican Plan to Build Central American Oil Refinery
Will Weissert

Mexico will supply crude oil for a US$4 billion refinery that will be built in Central America. President Fox, hosting a three-hour meeting with representatives from Colombia, the Dominican Republic and all of Central America, said the refinery will help reduce the region's dependency on foreign oil and keep skyrocketing prices at the gas pump in-check.more »»»

Energy Summit Takes Place in Mexico
Prensa Latina

Mexico, Central America, the Dominican Republic and Colombia held a summit in Cancun to analyze the so-called Mesoamerican Energy Initiative and committed to progress in integration. Host president, Vicente Fox, made the proposal for an agreement among 10 countries of seven projects.more »»»

Protests and Deadlocks Weigh on WTO Talks
The Financial Times

Thousands of activists marched through Hong Kong on Tuesday and scuffled with anti-riot police in protest against the World Trade Organisation, as ministers from the body's 149 member countries opened talks to break the deadlock in the Doha trade round. more »»»

The Road from Cuautla
Heidi Dietrich

Though Cuautla sits in the Mexican state of Jalisco, three hours by car from Puerto Vallarta and 2,000 miles from Seattle, the rural community holds a special place in the Puget Sound economy. An estimated 300 Mexican restaurants in Washington have been started by entrepreneurs from Cuautla, a town with a population of roughly 1,000.more »»»

Arizona Stores are Wooing Customers From Mexico
Susan Carroll

This holiday season, Arizona retailers are wooing Mexican shoppers like never before by catering to their habits, using multimedia advertising and even putting on fashion shows. The coveted demographic spends an estimated $1 million a day in Tucson alone, according to the Tucson-Mexico Trade Office.more »»»

Soaring Export Prices Lift Hope for Latin America
Chris Kraul

A boom in Latin America's exports of farm products and natural resources is lifting standards of living, creating jobs and offering guarded hope that the region may improve education and reduce its many social ills. Surging prices of commodities such as coffee, soybeans, copper and petroleum are bringing newfound prosperity to the region's farmers, miners and workers.more »»»

CPSC Signs Cooperative Memorandum of Understanding with Mexican Government
PRNewswire

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) today announced an agreement with the Mexican government aimed at further improving consumer safety and making both the United States and Mexican marketplaces among the safest in the world. This agreement is also part of the "Security and Prosperity Partnership" between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.more »»»

Teleconference Lets Mexican Presidential Candidate Spread Message to Students
Adam Foxman

The video feed was jerky and the sound was sometimes low, but for Luisa Martínez, it was an experience to be remembered. Martínez, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student, was one of about 15 members of the UCLA Community who came to the Anderson School of Management Friday to participate in a video conference with Felipe Calderón.more »»»

Mexican Beauties Still Hold Allure
Howard Simons

Holidays such as Thanksgiving create markers and memories in our lives. We see people we haven't seen for a while and mark the passage of time accordingly. Reflection can be good for the soul and bad for the digestion. So it is with the impending end of the calendar year, a time when various financial scribblers summarize what has happened, discuss why it was bound to have happened and look ahead to what they think will happen.more »»»

Mexico Gets Two Bids for Main Airlines
AP

Mexico's government-run airline holding company, Cintra SA, said it had received two bids for each of its two main airlines, Mexicana and Aeromexico. In a filing with the Mexican Stock Exchange, Cintra said two companies had made separate financial offers for each airline: Mexican hotel chain operator Grupo Posadas and Grupo Xtra, the holding company of Mexican businessman Isaac Saba Raffoul.more »»»

Big Cola, Soon Big Chela to Mix in Mexican Market
Chris Aspin

A little-known soft drinks bottler that has successfully taken on giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi in Mexico, the world's highest per capita consumer of Coke, now wants to challenge the country's top beermakers.more »»»

Latest Frida Merchandise Sparks Debate in Mexico
- Reuters

The mass marketing of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo's image has sparked debate in her homeland as a company plans to sell dolls in her likeness in December. A Mexican doll maker will launch the 20-inch (50-cm) Kahlo replicas in Mexico, the United States, Canada, Germany, France and Spain, said Mara de Anda, a descendant of the painter.more »»»

Americans Slammed by Credit Card Debt
Reuters

For all their convenience, credit cards can cause a lot of damage: Most Americans have credit card debt, and the average American owes more than $9,000 to credit card companies. Americans often are drawn into such a dilemma by tantalizing solicitations. Promises of low interest rates and low monthly payments will pop on to the computer screen or arrive in the mail.more »»»

Chavez Criticizes Mexico's Trade Stance
Patricia Rondon Espin

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is shrugging aside calls to end a war of words, calling Mexico an "ally of the empire" in backing a U.S. proposal for a hemisphere-wide free-trade zone. Chavez hammered at the government of Mexican President Vicente Fox, whom he had earlier termed "a puppy" of the United States. The spat led both countries to withdraw their ambassadors this week.more »»»

Mexican Lawmakers Approve Overall Spending Portion of 2006 Budget
newsfromrussia.com

Mexican lawmakers Tuesday approved the overall spending portion of the federal budget for 2006 after debating throughout the night. The nearly 2 trillion-peso (US$185 billion) budget was approved by a vote of 367-92 in the 500-member Congress.more »»»

Mexician Shop Owner Pushed for Big Antitrust Fine against Coca-Cola Bottlers
Mark Stevenson

Mexico has imposed anti-monopoly fines of about $68 million against a Coca-Cola Co. subsidiary and dozens of distributors and bottlers, largely due to a three-year battle waged by one woman who got tired of being told what to sell at her one-room store in an impoverished Mexico City neighborhood.more »»»

Host Marriott to Pay $3.3B for 38 Hotels
Associated Press

Host Marriott Corp., one of the nation's largest hotel real estate investment trusts, said Monday it agreed to buy 38 luxury and upscale hotels from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. for about $3.3 billion, adding a slew of new brands to the company's portfolio and expanding its international reach.more »»»

Combined US Air, America West Must Decide: Coke, or Pepsi?
USA Today

It's not the biggest hurdle to the combination of US Airways and America West Airlines, but it's one of the most visible: Do you serve Coke, or Pespi? US Air served Coke. America West, Pepsi. US Air sold Miller beer. America West, Budweiser.more »»»

Mexican Government Pays Off $1.4 Billion in Foreign Debt
Associated Press

Mexico has paid off $1.41 billion in foreign debt to ensure its financial stability through next year's presidential elections, Mexico's Treasury Department said Wednesday.more »»»

President Fox Says Hemisphere Trade Talks Possible Without Dissenters
Nestor Ikeda

President Vicente Fox said Friday that a majority of the nations in the Western Hemisphere will consider moving forward with negotiations to create a huge new free trade zone without the participation of dissenting nations like Venezuela.more »»»

Mexico Proposes Project with Central America
Wire services

Mexico is proposing its state-owned oil company and Central America governments join private investors to build US7.5 billion of energy projects to supply the region with gasoline, natural gas and electricity.more »»»

Fox to Discuss PPP in Costa Rica
Wire services

Costa Rican President Abel Pacheco and President Vicente Fox will discuss advances in a regional project designed to unite area economies before both head to the Americas Summit in Argentina.more »»»

Mexico to Push for Reviving FTAA Talks
AP

Mexican President Vicente Fox will ask his counterparts at the Americas Summit in Argentina to set a date to relaunch negotiations for the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Yanerit Morgan Sotomayor, a top official at the Foreign Relations Department, said Mexico would try to revive negotiations for the hemisphere-wide free trade accord, or at least "maintain the process to continue negotiations."more »»»

Mexico Regulator Wants Phone Access for Cable Firms
Reuters

Mexico's anti-monopoly commission urged the government on Tuesday to allow cable companies to offer phone services through their networks, arguing that such access would lower call prices.more »»»

Insider Reveals Story of Tri-West Investment Club Scam
Erin MacDonald

Imagine being hired for a job for which you move to Puerto Vallarta, live and work in a mansion on the beach that would rival all the houses in Bel Air put together, fly around the world on a Lear jet, and enjoy a great salary. Would you take the job?more »»»

Business Faces Pressure on Climate Change Stance
Gerard Wynn

Businesses are feeling the heat as the world warms up and investors demand to know what companies are doing to curb greenhouse gases - adding a new element to financial risk that analysts say industry can no longer ignore.more »»»

Mexican Economic Growth Picks Up in Third Quarter
Reuters

Mexico's economy grew a faster-than-expected 3.5 percent in the third quarter, compared with the year-ago period, as exports picked up and domestic demand stayed firm, the government said today.more »»»

Fox Fails to Increase Jobs While Curbing Inflation in Mexico
Bloomberg

Millions are dissatisfied even as Mexico enjoys the longest period of economic stability in four decades. Since Fox took office, inflation has dropped by half, to less than 4 percent this year, while overnight lending rates have declined to 9.26 percent from 17.9 percent.more »»»


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